Diabaté then faced off against Maurício Rua at Pride Final Conflict Absolute. After 5:29 of the first round, Rua defeated Diabaté via TKO (stomps). This loss led to Diabaté heading for smaller organizations.

His first fight was in England, for the Cage Rage promotion. He defeated Ryan Robinson via armbar and followed this up with a blood-soaked decision victory in a ShoXC card, where he faced Jaime Fletcher.[4]

Diabaté defeated Marcus Hicks via submission (armbar) after just 89 seconds. This win was his fourth in a row[5] and was followed up by a win over Rob Smith via submission.

Cyrille appeared frequently as a striking coach for Team Henderson in season 9 of The Ultimate Fighter. It was announced in February 2010 that Diabaté had signed a four fight contract with the UFC.

In his debut at UFC 114 he defeated Luiz Cané via TKO in the first round. Diabaté later expressed disappointment in his own performance, having had to "survive a flash knockout" early in the first round.[6]

In his second appearance, Diabaté lost to Alexander Gustafsson on October 16, 2010 at UFC 120.[7] In the fight, he was dominated by the Swede for the entire first round standing, and in the second round he was taken down early and submitted with a rear naked choke. This was his first loss in four years.

Diabaté faced Ilir Latifi at UFC Fight Night 37.[17] Before the fight, Diabaté announced he will retire from MMA regardless of the bout's outcome.[18] He lost the fight via submission in the first round.[19] After his loss to Latifi, Diabaté made his retirement from combat sports official.[20]